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  3. Virtually Human

EBOOK

Virtually Human

The Promise-and the Peril-of Digital Immortality

Martine Rothblatt, Ph. D.
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Pages
368
Year
2014
Language
English
Publisher
St. Martin's Publishing Group

About

Virtually Human explores what the not-too-distant future will look like when cyber-consciousness-simulation of the human brain via software and computer technology-allows our consciousness to be present forever.

Meet Bina48, the world's most sentient robot, commissioned by Martine Rothblatt and created by Hanson Robotics. Bina48 is a nascent Mindclone of Martine's wife that can engage in conversation, answer questions, and even have spontaneous thoughts that are derived from multimedia data in a Mindfile created by the real Bina. If you're active on Twitter or Facebook, share photos through Instagram, or blogging regularly, you're already on your way to creating a Mindfile- a digital database of your thoughts, memories, feelings, and opinions that is essentially a back-up copy of your mind. Soon, this Mindfile can be made conscious with special software- Mindware- that mimics the way human brains organize information, create emotions and achieve self-awareness.

This may sound like science-fiction A.I. (artificial intelligence), but the nascent technology already exists. Thousands of software engineers across the globe are working to create cyber-consciousness based on human consciousness and the Obama administration recently announced plans to invest in a decade-long Brain Activity Map project. Virtually Human is the only book to examine the ethical issues relating to cyber-consciousness and Rothblatt, with a Ph.D. in medical ethics, is uniquely qualified to lead the dialogue.

Related Subjects

  • Philosophy & Social Aspects
  • Science
  • Adult Nonfiction
  • General
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Computers

Reviews

"Maybe the most fascinating woman on the planet"
Jezebel
"Martine Rothblatt has a knack for expanding our minds as well as our comfort zones beyond customary boundaries, be they of gender or substrate."
Ray Kurzweil
"Ingenious... a thoughtful philosophical exploration of the role of virtual humans in our future"
Kirkus Reviews

Artists

Martine Rothblatt, Ph. D.Author